After wrapping up PlayStation's State of Play livestream with a February 2020 release date reveal, The Last of Us Part II's director opened up about the pressures of crafting a sequel that lives up to The Last of Us' pedigree.Game director Neil Druckmann took to the PlayStation blog to contextualize the new gameplay trailer that debuted during the State of Play presentation. Druckmann said Naughty Dog has been working on TLOU2 for five years because the studio understands "how much you love this world and its characters--especially Ellie and Joel." As a result, Naughty Dog has been toiling away delicately and intentionally, hoping to tell "a nuanced story that [will do these characters justice]."Druckmann goes on to state that TLOU2 is "a highly emotional story with complex themes that befit the world of The Last of Us," admitting that the sequel is Naughty Dog's "most ambitious and longest game in our 35-year history." He also states TLOU2 "needed to be massive" in order to tell its story. Reports suggest that TLOU2 is split between two discs. State of Play News PS4's September 2019 State Of Play: The Last Of Us 2 And All Other Announcements PS Plus October 2019 PS4 Lineup Revealed During State Of Play Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Story Trailer Officially Debuts Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare's Spec Ops Survival Mode Will Come To PS4 First The Last Of Us 2 Finally Has A Release Date, Coming February 2020 Death Stranding Limited Edition PS4 Pro And DualShock 4 Revealed; Pre-Orders Available Now New Last Of Us 2 Gameplay Trailer Revealed The Last Of Us 2 New Gameplay Debuts At Sony State Of Play New Last Of Us 2 Story Details Revealed During State Of Play MediEvil Remaster Demo Is Out Now On PS4 Druckmann confirmed that more information about TLOU2 will arrive on Thursday, September 26 in celebration of Outbreak Day. "Inspired by the day the cordyceps fungus reached critical mass, every September 26 we celebrate The Last of Us community and we've got some exciting things planned," he wrote.PlayStation revealed that The Last of Us Remastered will be part of October's PS Plus lineup during the State of Play livestream. We also learned a few new details about TLOU2, including how old Joel's gotten, the knowledge that his brother's still alive, Ellie and her friend Dina smoking what appears to be a joint, and more.Info from Gamespot.com

The Last of Us Part II finally has a release date: February 21, 2020. The game's director, Neil Druckmann, has revealed that it will be the longest game that Naughty Dog has ever made--though an exact number for how long it will take to complete has not been announced."We began working on this game over five years ago," Druckmann wrote in a PlayStation blog post. "It's hard to describe the immense pressure of following up the first game. We know how much you love this world and its characters--especially Ellie and Joel. Believe me, we’re fans as well. We love them. Which is why we spent years crafting a game that we feel will do them justice, telling a nuanced story that deals with the core question: how far would you go to exact justice against the people that hurt the ones you love? It's a highly emotional story with complex themes that befit the world of The Last of Us. What we realized pretty early on is that we were putting together Naughty Dog's most ambitious and longest game in our 35-year history. To tell this kind of story the game needed to be massive."For the sake of comparison, both Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and The Last of Us run for about 15 hours. So The Last of Us Part II is longer than that, but whether that's closer to 16-20 hours or something much longer like 25-35 remains to be seen. Druckmann concluded the post with the tease that The Last of Us fans can expect more in the next few days. "Inspired by the day the cordyceps fungus reached critical mass, every September 26 we celebrate The Last of Us community and we've got some exciting things planned," he wrote.During the September State of Play, PlayStation released a brand-new trailer for The Last of Us Part II which revealed further story details and showcased more gameplay. The Last of Us Part II looks exceptionally violent, with emotional moments between well-written characters sprinkled in between the combat. The game will release exclusively on PS4. However, with rumored plans of a PS5 console already circulating, a next-gen port or remaster might not be off the table just yet. State of Play News PS4's September 2019 State Of Play: The Last Of Us 2 And All Other Announcements PS Plus October 2019 PS4 Lineup Revealed During State Of Play Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Story Trailer Officially Debuts Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare's Spec Ops Survival Mode Will Come To PS4 First The Last Of Us 2 Finally Has A Release Date, Coming February 2020 Death Stranding Limited Edition PS4 Pro And DualShock 4 Revealed; Pre-Orders Available Now New Last Of Us 2 Gameplay Trailer Revealed The Last Of Us 2 New Gameplay Debuts At Sony State Of Play New Last Of Us 2 Story Details Revealed During State Of Play MediEvil Remaster Demo Is Out Now On PS4 Info from Gamespot.com

Joker has earned some acclaim from critics and fans who saw it in early screenings and at recent film festivals, but there's also some controversy concerning the film's violence and its portrayal of the iconic Batman villain. Ahead of Joker's October 4 release date, Warner Bros. has released a statement addressing that controversy head-on."Gun violence in our society is a critical issue, and we extend our deepest sympathy to all victims and families impacted by these tragedies," the studio wrote. "Our company has a long history of donating to victims of violence, including Aurora, and in recent weeks, our parent company joined other business leaders to call on policymakers to enact bi-partisan legislation to address this epidemic."However, the statement also makes it clear that Warner Bros. stands by the film:"At the same time, Warner Bros. believes that one of the functions of storytelling is to provoke difficult conversations around complex issues. Make no mistake: neither the fictional character Joker, nor the film, is an endorsement of real-world violence of any kind. It is not the intention of the film, the filmmakers or the studio to hold this character up as a hero."Warner Bros.' statement arrived in the wake of an open letter written by the families of several victims of the 2012 Aurora shooting that took place during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises. The letter expressed concern about the movie's treatment of the villain, according to Deadline. "We're calling on [Warner Bros. CEO and chairperson Ann Sarnoff] to use your massive platform and influence to join us in our fight to build safer communities with fewer guns," the letter said, additionally calling for WB to stop donating money to politicians who support the NRA, among other requests.In GameSpot's own Joker review, we noted that "Joker humanizes a murderer in a way that may make the kinds of disenfranchised real-world mass killers we now see regularly salivate--or, in the worst possible scenario, provide them inspiration."We also described Joker as a "populist antihero" who "inspires the downtrodden people of Gotham to rise up against Wall Street fat cats and the 'fascists' in City Hall." The studio may officially disagree with that reading, but it's one way to interpret the movie's events.Joker director Todd Phillips has spoken candidly about the film already, claiming he was misquoted on at least one occasion, and discussing the possibility of a Joker sequel.Joker will be sure to prove divisive once it hits theaters on October 4. In the meantime, tickets for the movie are now on sale.Info from Gamespot.com

Microsoft's Project xCloud is one of a number of exciting game streaming services coming soon. While the company has shown the Xbox service off in streams and at live events, it has so far only been available under controlled conditions.However, during the latest Inside Xbox stream, the platform holder has said it will soon begin xCloud's Public Preview phase, in which gamers can test the service for free. You can sign up for the testing period on the Xbox website, though note the trial is coming to the US, UK, and Korea only.Microsoft says the test will start in October, but it will be a staggered launch, so if you don't get an invite right away, you could still be involved later on. However, signing up does not guarantee you entry: "We anticipate that demand will exceed our capacity during the preview period and that we will be unable to accommodate all applicants," Microsoft said in a statement. "However, it is our intention to accommodate as many eligible players as possible and we’ll continue to invite more gamers into the preview over time."Four games will be included from the outset--Gears 5, Halo 5: Guardians, Killer Instinct, and Sea of Thieves--but Microsoft says more will be added over time. You don't need to own these games or even an Xbox console to participate, either, since they're streamed directly from the cloud. You only need a phone or tablet running Android 6.0 and Bluetooth 4.0 and an Xbox One controller. Microsoft says the Preview will continue until "customers are consistently reporting a great, fun experience and the technology meets our internal quality standards."Finally, Microsoft said it was still working on its console streaming technology, which streams games directly from your own Xbox One to your mobile device. "It plays an important role in our all-up game streaming vision and we're still on track to begin public trials this year," a spokesperson told GameSpot.Elsewhere in the Inside Xbox video, Microsoft announced more titles coming soon to Xbox Game Pass on Xbox One and PC.Info from Gamespot.com

During September 2019's Inside Xbox, Xbox announced more titles are coming to Game Pass. Specifically, the PC version of the game-focused subscription service is getting new titles.On PC, Dirt Rally 2.0, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, Bad North, Cities: Skyline are all coming to Game Pass. Among the roster, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is my personal favorite--pushing the ridiculous series to new heights as you jump into a Matrix-like simulation to battle an alien threat as the President of the United States.Game Pass continues to be one of the best things to happen to Xbox, offering dozens of phenomenal titles for a fraction of their total retail cost on both Xbox One and PC. The past few months have seen several triple-A titles added to the service, including first-party games like Gears 5 and third-party ones like Jump Force. Lots of indie games have been added the day they release as well, such as Creature in the Well and Blair Witch.Looking ahead, Game Pass is already scheduled to see more big-name titles added to the service. The Outer Worlds is probably the biggest name on the list, offering a space-focused variation of Fallout: New Vegas' formula that allows you to craft your own journey--even allowing you to become the villain of the campaign.During Inside Xbox, Xbox also released new information about Microsoft's upcoming game streaming service, Project xCloud, and featured interviews and presentations for Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Atlas, DayZ, Hitman 2, Afterparty, Code Vein, Felix the Reaper, and Children of Morta.Info from Gamespot.com

The Xbox One X and Xbox One S both have a new bundle. It's the same bundle for each console, packaging a copy of Forza Horizon 4 and its Lego Speed Championship DLC--it's worth pointing out that Fortune Island, the game's first expansion, is not included. You can pick up either bundle starting today.Xbox One X and Xbox One S - Forza Horizon 4 bundlesSee the Xbox One X bundle See the Xbox One S bundleThe Xbox One X bundle costs $500, while the Xbox One S version of the bundle comes in at $300. Both bundles include one month of Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass, in addition to the prerequisite Xbox One controller.Forza Horizon 4 received a 9/10 in GameSpot's review. Our Edmond Tran praised the superb vehicle handling and visually stunning open world that's overflowing with activities."There's such a diverse range of activities stuffed into every corner of Horizon 4, and meaningful changes contribute to smart driving dynamics and a more consistent sense of achievement," he said. "Everything you do in Horizon feels valuable, no matter how big or small ... The charm of the Horizon series is as palpable as ever, a winning, all-inclusive recipe that celebrates the joy of driving above all else."Info from Gamespot.com

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is set to launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One this fall, and ahead of its October 4 release, developer and publisher Ubisoft has announced that the open beta is available to pre-load right now.While the Ghost Recon: Breakpoint open beta doesn't start until Thursday, September 26, Ubisoft is allowing you to get a headstart by downloading the open beta before it goes live. You can pre-load the open beta on PC, PS4, or Xbox One, and it's scheduled to run from September 26-29 and is just shy of 15GB to download.The #GhostRecon Open Beta starts in 2 days. Pre-load the beta now! — Ghost Recon (@GhostRecon) September 24, 2019Open Beta Start TimePre-load: September 24, 3 AM PT / 5 AM CST / 6 AM ET / 11 AM BSTServers Open: September 26, 3 AM PT / 5 AM CST / 6 AM ET / 11 AM BSTServers Close: September 29, 7 AM PT / 9 AM CST / 10 ET / 3 PM BSTGhost Recon: Breakpoint's open beta will let you experience five main missions across Auroa's massive open-world, as well as a variety of side missions and daily Faction Missions. Further, you'll be able to dive into the game's Ghost War mode, with 4v4 Elimination and three maps available to test out. Ubisoft notes that your progress from the beta won't transfer to the full game when it launches next month.The Inside Xbox livestream is now underway, and includes an interview with Ghost Recon: Breakpoint start Jon Bernthal. We expect a few different announcements to come out of the presentation, including a look at The Outer Worlds and trailer reveals for Afterparty, Children of Morta, Felix the Reaper, and more.Info from Gamespot.com

Every victory in Overland, no matter how small, is won by the skin of your teeth. That's a feeling any good turn-based tactical strategy game gives you, of course. But Overland's pared-down options, compact maps, and fast-rising stakes mean that nearly every decision--the car you drive, the company you keep, where you move, what you carry--feels vital and could potentially have major ramifications. A mysterious and omnipresent race of creatures (I think) has ravaged the USA, and for the characters under your care, road-tripping from the East Coast to the West Coast seems to be the best course of action. The journey across Middle America is a beautiful but difficult one, filled with life-or-death obstacles right from the get-go, and Overland's roguelike structure means you will see dozens, if not hundreds, of ordinary people (and dogs, all of them good) perish in fraught situations. But the high risk makes its small victories, like finding a cool item or escaping an area unharmed, feel all the more rewarding, more motivating. Overland is filled with bite-sized doses of relief that feed you with the encouragement you need to continue helping these poor folk on the off chance that maybe this time, you might make it all the way.The post-apocalyptic survivors of Overland don't possess the combat expertise of XCOM or Fire Emblem soldiers. The randomly-generated personality traits for characters are simple in nature, but make them feel more grounded and sympathetic than your typical strategy soldier, perhaps emboldening them as a good yeller, or informing you that someone “really misses their family.” Attacking and killing the unnerving and aggressive rock-like creatures that stalk you in each area you traverse is an option (if you happen to be carrying a makeshift weapon, at least), but clearing the playfield of hostiles isn't really the objective here. In fact, the noise that you make in attacking the creatures only attracts more, and in the game's densely packed maps, consisting of a 9x9 grid filled with buildings and solid obstacles, it will quickly create a scenario that is impossible to escape.Overland is instead a game that centers around your roadtrip vehicle. The vehicle you drive is your lifeline, and as you move from area to area on your trip west, your main priority is to keep that four-wheeled machine fueled and in good shape. You start with a simple hatchback but will eventually stumble across different models, and your type of vehicle will inform your strategy--vans let you transport more survivors than your standard car should you encounter them and pickup trucks provide plenty of storage for items but sacrifice seating. SUVs are a late-game godsend that marry the best of both worlds. Escaping an area on foot is possible, but as you'd expect, it's impossible to make any cross-country progress--your characters will be funneled into an area with a beat-up car to try and salvage in order to move forward.Keeping your engine running is the game's central challenge, and it's a demanding one. You need to scavenge new areas for fuel canisters, perhaps finding them in dumpsters or slowly siphoning gas from abandoned cars, and you might find some useful tools and items to assist you along the way. But where Overland creates its challenge, and in turn, its compelling high-risk decision making, is in the strict limitations it puts on what you're actually able to achieve. Restrictions characterise every aspect of the game: Your characters can only take two actions per turn and two hits before dying, and getting injured reduces your actions per turn to one; your vehicle can only take two hits before exploding, and its movement is limited to the two-lane road down the middle of the map, which will often be littered with junk; each character can only hold one item, meaning scavenging is an onerous task that potentially means giving up the ability for a character to defend themselves, and the compact maps mean you're always one square away from either narrowly slipping by or getting skewered by a creature. The lack of choice and options available to you in the overall moment-to-moment makes the ones that are there feel intimidatingly important--one misstep can cause serious havoc.There are items and character traits that can help push these boundaries. For example, your lone starter character will always be equipped with a backpack to carry an extra item, some traits will let survivors perform specific actions for free, and most (but not all) dogs have an inherent attack option. But it's rare for you to feel like you have a complete handle on the situation in Overland, and even then, it'll definitely be short-lived. The margin between success and failure is very fine, and constantly having to fly by the seat of your pants and improvise is a heart-pounding feeling--an undo function is available but has limits and conditions, and the game saves after the end of each turn.All of these factors help guarantee that every new run of Overland you play will be filled with memorable narratives born out of the natural flow of the game. One time, I was eking through a road blockage by having two characters clear debris as a third slowly snaked the car through a narrow passage, all while dozens of creatures bore down on us. A larger creature shoved debris between the clearing crew and the car, leaving me no choice but to escape on foot and leave the driver behind to a grizzly fate. In another situation, my crew of three stumbled across a brand-new, well-equipped pickup truck. But it could only seat two people, and after some consideration, I purposely drove away with my two favorites, abandoning the weakest member of the group. Later on in the run, that person would come back to try and get revenge. In one of my favorite scenarios, one of my human characters was cornered, unarmed, by a creature while scavenging. In a moment of desperation, I commanded her two other companions, both dogs, to race to the car, grab a wooden pallet from the trunk, and work to pass it to her relay-style so she could block the hit she was about to take. Overland is filled with these kinds of thrilling, dire scenarios where you need to improvise an immediate solution or resolve to just drop everything and get the hell out of there.There is a caveat to a game with so many difficult decisions, however: The risk of getting yourself stuck in a bad situation with no obvious way out and a feeling of merely perpetuating your eventual demise. You'll likely have many forlorn campaigns in Overland, especially when starting out, where the difficulty and hopelessness can feel overwhelming. Perhaps you're constantly driving on fumes and finding it's too difficult to obtain fuel from any of the areas presented to you, or perhaps your survivors are all injured and movement-restricted, making it feel impossible to achieve anything meaningful. Overland does present you opportunities to crawl back from these hopeless brinks--believe me, it's possible. But it can sometimes feel like the procedurally generated aspects of the game are stacked against you--especially when you have a crew equipped with debuffs like "Bad Driver" and "Clumsy,"’ guzzling up gas at an increased rate and making a racket with every action they take.But Overland's brutal, minimalist design is tough to stay away from. The bite-sized victories you narrowly eke out with each new area are incredibly moreish, and the game feels very well-suited to portable play on both Nintendo Switch and on iPhone through Apple Arcade. The game's clean, stylish art direction and somber, eerie soundtrack help to build the intriguing sense of mystery, too--whatever is happening in this post-apocalypse is likely much bigger than you or your survivors will ever have the chance to fully understand.All that matters is getting your survivors to the West Coast and making it through seven different biomes filled with an increasingly distressing variety of threats and hardships with whatever tools you can scrounge together. Overland perfectly captures a feeling of being helpless, of only just getting by, and of being afraid to venture too far away from your car into the pitch-black dark of night. Every movement you commit, every action you command, and every item or character you sacrifice for another will be an apprehensive decision. But taking each of those tough steps makes you even more grateful to hear the soft chime of your car's open-door alarm when you make it back, and the rev of the motor when you escape down the highway, relieved to leave another pack of abnormal creatures behind. Info from Gamespot.com

NHL 20's cover star, Auston Matthews, is facing a police investigation for disorderly conduct. ESPN reports that Matthews, the 22-year-old center for the Toronto Maple Leafs, has been charged with disruptive behavior or fighting in an incident that took place in Scottsdale, Arizona back in May.ESPN's report has all the details:"According to multiple reports that cited the police report, a woman was sitting inside her car outside the condo building where Matthews lives when she was disturbed by the sound of someone trying to jump in her door. She allegedly got out of her car and confronted Matthews, who she said was intoxicated. According to multiple reports, as Matthews walked away, he 'pulled his pants down, bent over and grabbed his butt cheeks,' though he kept on his underwear."Matthews is scheduled to appear for a pre-trial conference this Wednesday, September 25.The Maple Leafs released a statement on Matthews, which said the organization is "aware of the complaint." Matthews is reportedly cooperating fully with authorities, but Matthews and the Leafs declined to share any more details "out of respect for the process involved."Matthews is one of the NHL's best players, which is why EA put him on the cover of its latest NHL game. Just this year, Matthews--the No. 1 draft pick in 2016--inked a massive $58 million contract with the Leafs.This is just the latest round of controversy to surround an NHL video game cover star. EA removed Patrick Kane from the cover of NHL 16 amid a police investigation into him for sexual assault. The local District Attorney's office decided to not pursue criminal charges against Kane.GameSpot has contacted EA Sports in an attempt to get more details on the company's response to the investigation into Matthews. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.The Leafs begin their 2019 season on October 2 in a match-up against the Ottawa Senators. Info from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is already confirmed to feature the franchise's biggest multiplayer mode ever with its 64-player Ground War. As suspected, the military shooter may offer multiplayer modes that are even bigger in scale.In a press release, Activision said the previously discussed 100-player modes may be available at launch. "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer is expected to support up to 100 players in select multiplayer experiences upon launch on October 25," Activision said.The wording here is important. The release specifically mentions "select multiplayer experiences" plural, which suggests there may be more than one 100-player mode. Additionally, the line mentions that these modes, whatever they are, are "expected"--but not confirmed--to be available upon release.In August, Infinity Ward's Joel Emslie told GameSpot that Modern Warfare is capable of supporting more than 100 players, though he didn't have any more information to share at the time. It remains to be seen if the 100-player mode(s) will be battle royale or something else entirely.2018's Call of Duty game, Black Ops 4, features a battle royale mode called Blackout. Just this week, the mode introduced huge tanks to crank up the action.Modern Warfare, which is a reboot of the 2007 game of the same name, launches on October 25 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. In a big change for the series, post-release DLC maps are free. Not only that, but the game supports cross-play and cross-saves. Just recently, it was also confirmed that PS4 players will have exclusive access to the Survival mode in Spec Ops.The game launches with a huge amount of hype behind it, as the Modern Warfare beta was the franchise's biggest ever in terms of total number of players and hours spent in the game.Info from Gamespot.com

The recently concluded Call of Duty: Modern Warfare beta test has set multiple new franchise records for a Call of Duty beta. According to Activision, it was the "largest [beta] in Call of Duty history."Some of its achievements included:Highest total number of usersHighest number of hours playedHighest peak concurrent number for PS4, Xbox One, and PC combinedActivision said "millions" of people played the beta. The pre-release test was held over multiple weekends in September, beginning on PS4 before coming to Xbox One and PC. Those who pre-ordered the game were invited in first, before Activision opened the beta to everyone.The second weekend's beta test was a big one, as it introduced the 64-player Ground War mode and cross-play support that allowed people on different platforms to play together. Additionally, it was discovered that Modern Warfare supports cross-saves between competing systems, so you can play on PS4 and move to Xbox One (or PC) and keep your progression and levels intact.Infinity Ward boss Patrick Kelly said in a statement that Modern Warfare beta gave the studio "important data and feedback" to help improve the game at launch on October 25.Activision's statement went on to reiterate that Modern Warfare's multiplayer may introduce a mode or multiple modes that support up to 100 players, though whether or not this will be a battle royale mode remains to be seen.Modern Warfare was co-developed by Beenox, High Moon Studios, and Raven Software. Additionally, it appears Call of Duty: WWII developer Sledgehammer's new Melbourne, Australia studio contributed to the engineering work that made Modern Warfare's Ground War mode possible. Info from Gamespot.com

Up a short flight of stairs and down an alleyway from the initial hub of the first major area in The Surge 2 is a door that can only be opened from the other side. Roughly a dozen hours later you will find yourself standing on the other side of this door before opening it and returning to the very place in which you began, keenly aware of how far you've progressed while not really traveling anywhere at all.Yes, The Surge 2 is that kind of game: an action RPG with a looping, labyrinthine structure and a heavy debt owed to Dark Souls. It's a hard game in the sense that it demands patience and attention to detail, but it's not especially punishing. Sure, when you die or rest at a medbay (read: bonfire) all the enemies respawn and many of them can kill you in a couple of hits. And sure, you have to make it back to where you died to recover your tech scrap (read: souls). But as with the Souls series and its ilk, this isn't really a game about clearing an area and leveling up; it's about learning through repetition and deepening your understanding of the game. On a purely mechanical level, the robust combat engine, intricate level design and substantive gear, and crafting systems all leave The Surge 2 far from embarrassed by the From Software comparison. Yet where The Surge 2's blushes are not spared is in giving you a reason to care about anything you're doing. Lackluster world-building, forgettable characters and cringeworthy dialogue all conspire against persuading you this is a world worth saving.It begins with a plane crash. On board was some sort of nanotechnology that triggers an environmental disaster requiring a city-wide quarantine and leaving those infected to wander the streets with a permanently hostile demeanor. You were also on the plane, yet somehow survived the crash and, at the start of the game, wake up in the medical wing of the Jericho City Police Department. Soon you're having sporadic visions of a young girl, the granddaughter of the CEO of nanotech firm CREO Industries, who you're sure was also on the plane and now appears to have been kidnapped by a mysterious security force.There's not a great deal to the story and what little there is quickly reduces to stale sci-fi musings about the relationship between humans and machines and all sorts of hackneyed military-industrial complex pot-boiling. Your pursuit of the elusive young girl is essentially the pretext for exploring the multi-faceted and interconnected districts of Jericho City and whacking nearly all of its inhabitants in the face. Fighting in The Surge 2 feels strategic and skillful. There's the element of stamina management you'd expect--you've got to understand when you can commit and when you need to pull back and recover. There's the ability to manage multiple enemies when any one of them alone is dangerous enough to be life-threatening if you're not careful. And there's the necessity of learning to read enemy attack patterns--one may be quick and aggressive, while another is slower and turtles behind a shield, and a third may hang back and takes pot shots.Combat is almost exclusively focused on melee attacks. There are dozens of weapons to be wielded in one hand or two and each can be deployed in heavy and light attacks as well as combos that alternate between the two. Movesets are shared across a weapon class but various stats--such as base damage, stamina consumption or additional damage types--serve to differentiate unique weapons within the same class. All spears, for example, have the same long reach and forward thrusting attacks, but this one hits slightly quicker for less damage while that one consumes more stamina per attack but delivers bonus electrical damage every hit.Smartly, no weapons are simply outright better than the others, meaning your choice of armament comes down to a combination of what you've managed to find, which particular mix of moveset and stats suit your preferred playstyle, and to a lesser extent the nature of the obstacle you're trying to overcome. Some weapons are better suited to certain situations, but ultimately it comes down to how you want to approach combat. Weapons taken from the one-handed (think futuristic longswords) and twin-rigged (think futuristic knuckle-dusters) classes hit with speed and will let you get the drop on an enemy then deliver a swift combo. Hammers and anything from the heavy-duty class will instead take longer to wind up but when they hit they hit hard and can easily stagger an opponent. I enjoyed the flexibility of the double-duty class, a weapon type that can transform between slow, heavy hits and a quick flurry of blows. And for situations that warranted a different tactic I switched to a staff for the longer reach of its whirlwind attack and some added nano damage. There's a huge amount of variety here and, after briefly testing out each new weapon I found during my initial playthrough, I'm looking forward to exploring different weapon loadouts in future playthroughs.That's mostly because fighting in The Surge 2 feels really good. Aided by the meaty impact of the sound effects and the responsiveness of the character animations, you can feel the weight of each attack in a manner that never fails to satisfy. Successfully deflecting an attack rewards you with wonderfully gratifying "whomp!" sound, a brief freeze-frame and slow-motion interlude as the enemy is staggered and you're given the opening to launch a critical strike. Better, perhaps, are the cinematic slow-mos seen when you are able to sever the limb of your opponent, with your character drawing from an impressively wide range of stylish deathblow animations that are solely interested in making you look like the most effortless badass in the post-apocalypse. Be warned, however: they are not for the squeamish (and, fortunately, there's an option to disable these scenes to reduce the gore factor.)But it gets even more complex. When locked on to an enemy you are able to target individual limbs, switching between the head, body, arms, and legs with a flick of the right analogue stick. You want to do this for two reasons. One, some limbs may be unarmoured, thus targeting an exposed left arm will let you do more damage and hasten the kill. Two, if you do enough damage to a particular limb you'll get the opportunity to chop it off and, in a curious application of game logic, claim it as a material for crafting. Once you've beheaded an enemy enough times you'll have the materials necessary to craft a new piece of headgear or upgrade your existing one. The tantalizing risk/reward here is obvious: do you go for the weak point or prolong the fight in order to get that vital crafting component? Boss fights double down on this element, with some of them forcing you to hack off multiple limbs to bring it down while others drop special boss weapons if you target the relevant limb during the fight. Furthering the complexity, you can also block attacks (assuming you have sufficient stamina) by holding down L1/LB, but to deflect an attack you've got to block and flick the right stick in the direction of the incoming blow at the precise moment; mis-time your attempt and you're going to take the hit. It's not just another great risk/reward setup, it also reveals one of the clever ways The Surge 2 handles its difficulty. While there aren't selectable difficulty levels per se, you can equip various implants that boost your character in certain ways, one of which provides a UI indicator letting you know from which direction the next attack is incoming. So if you want to adopt a playstyle around deflecting attacks and you're not yet familiar with reading enemy attack animations, you can equip this implant and receive a very useful visual aid.It's a really smart system that extends into other areas, too. Implants consume core power, a character stat that increases as you level up, and typically the more useful an implant the more power it consumes. Armour also draws power from the same source, and--yep, you guessed it--the better the defensive stats, the more power it draws. You never have enough core power to simply equip your best armour set and all your favorite implants, so this is where you have to make tough choices about what type of character you're going to be. There were plenty of periods, especially in the early to mid-game, where I had to leave some armour and implant slots empty because I simply didn't have the power available to fill them. It's in these situations, when you're having to sacrifice useful tools and really commit to a playstyle, that The Surge 2 shines as an RPG.It also shines in its level design--at least it does so in a somewhat cold, theoretical fashion. Like Dark Souls, The Surge 2 trades heavily on a Metroidvania structure that sees you traversing its levels in a kind of circular fashion, pressing forward until you find yourself back where you started only now you've unlocked a shortcut that lets you press further forward. Later, you will return to many of the previously visited locations and explore them anew, having acquired certain key items that allow you to access areas previously inaccessible. There's nothing especially novel about that structure. The Surge 2 is simply an extremely accomplished version of it. The areas you explore are just so tightly designed, so compact and yet simultaneously sprawling and dense. There's almost a honeycomb quality to the level design, this vast network of winding tunnels existing almost on top of each other, branching and converging in surprising ways. No space is wasted.It's just a shame few of the locations are memorable for reasons other than how they connect to other locations. There's a midgame detour to a rather scenic wooded parkland, the odd impressive future city skyline vista, and the constant looming presence of the giant metal wall that was hastily erected after the nano-disaster struck. But in between everything is basically the same handful of debris-strewn streets, toxic tunnels and partially collapsed buildings--and it's all so boringly brown and grey. More than a mere aesthetic complaint, it actually makes it difficult to find your bearings at times. I found myself getting lost and turned around on quite a few occasions thanks to the unremarkable nature of much of the scenery. Worse, the characters you meet along the way are equally soulless, if not more so. Conversations with major NPCs are written as if they're throwaway sidequests, eschewing any sense of character development in favor of laboured exposition. The actual sidequests, of course, fare no better--to their advantage at least they're quick and to the point, even if they barely resolve and rarely offer a reward worth the effort.Story and sidequests aside, however, The Surge 2 is absolutely worth the effort when the combat is taken in isolation. Not only does it pack a punch, but it also channels plenty of depth in its limb targeting and deflection systems, and is ably supported by a genuinely varied collection of weapons and potential character builds. Info from Gamespot.com

Untitled Goose Game--a game in which you play as a jerk goose who waddles through a small English town ruining everyone's day-- feels like a miniature version of Hitman, but with mischief instead of murder. Like those games, it's all about learning an environment inside-out and figuring out how to play various people and systems against each other to achieve your goals. You wander between four small, quaint locations and tick off objectives from your list by wreaking havoc on the people you encounter and generally being a nuisance. At first, you're annoying a man as he tends to his garden, turning on his sprinklers as he stands over them, stealing the keys to his gate, nicking his produce, and generally getting in his way. The game continues like this, as the goose's to-do list demands that it causes upset to most of the people it encounters. Working through the game means figuring out how each element interacts with everything else and how to corralling various people, who all react to the goose differently.It's a comedy first and foremost. Figuring out how to complete each objective might be essential to your progress, but the real fun is in seeing how harried you can make everyone. When you need to make a man spit out his tea, steal his shoes, and ruin his garden, you might start to feel sorry for him, but you also won't want to stop terrorizing him. The goose can only run, grab onto things, honk, and flap its wings, but through some combination of these actions you can manipulate the folks you encounter and cause chaos. One character might run in fear if you honk at them; another might bend over if you drop something for them, giving you a chance to steal their hat; another might leave their post if you steal something of theirs and drop it far away, giving you the chance to go back while they're distracted and steal the object you were really after all along.The humor of Untitled Goose Game is built into the mechanics and animations; seeing the goose waddle along, honking and flapping its wings, is inherently amusing and satisfying even before you start causing mischief because of how perfectly evocative it is of a real bird. The clean, colorful visual style is also a treat. But the reactive soundtrack is what really sells the goose's charms. The music, based on Claude Debussy's Préludes, springs into action dynamically based on the goose's actions, punctuating moments when it shocks someone and adding a buoyancy to any scene involving a chase. It gives the game a feeling of farce; at its best, it's reminiscent of a Buster Keaton film, especially since there's no dialogue.The objectives you're asked to complete often require some lateral thinking. Getting into the headspace of the goose and figuring out how a few actions can spiral into something that's going to annoy one of your targets is very entertaining. Sometimes it's immediately clear what you need to do, and sometimes the solution is more abstract, but most objectives will name an object that you can find within the environment. In the second location, for instance, you're told to "get on TV"--the solution isn't immediately obvious, but finding the TV you need to interact with is not difficult. Untitled Goose Game lightly leads you towards its puzzle solutions without explicitly holding your hand through them, so figuring out a clever solution is rewarding.You need to complete all but one objective in each location to advance, which is a nice concession, as it means you can progress to the next area even if one of the puzzles just isn't clicking for you. Sometimes it's just a matter of figuring out what needs to be done and then doing it, but you also need to practice some level of finesse: The goose can't get too close to anyone who's going to try to shoo it away, and you'll often need to be stealthy, sneaking under tables, causing distractions, and hiding behind bushes and in boxes like a long-necked, web-toed Solid Snake.Each area also features a fetch quest objective, for which you need to gather several items and put them in one place while making sure that you're not caught. These objectives are the least fun, generally, because too much is left to the imagination; the first one asks you to "have a picnic" by dragging a variety of particular items to a picnic blanket, but once you've done so the objective is immediately complete, with no additional vignettes or animations to reward all that effort. Untitled Goose Game's best objectives reward you not only with a feeling of satisfaction, but with a fun, charming bit of interaction between the goose and the people it encounters, whether that means watching a man stumble around with a bucket on his head or watching someone else wearily resign themselves to their favorite hat being gone.Untitled Goose Game is also extremely short. When I reached the end, I was surprised at how little time it had taken--I had only been playing for about two hours. Thankfully, after the credits roll you unlock a new list of objectives across the now fully unlocked map, but there isn't the same incentive to complete them when you know that you won't be rewarded with a new location to explore, or even, necessarily, new interactions. Most of them are twists on previous objectives or more complicated versions of things you've already done, often involving moving items between different locations.I'm glad that those extra objectives are there, though, and I had a good time working through them. It's just a shame that there isn't a bit more, because Untitled Goose Game ends far before I felt like I'd had my fill or seen everything the game was going to throw at me. Being short isn't inherently bad, but Untitled Goose Game's playground could stand to be bigger. I wished that I could keep riding the high of unlocking new areas and messing with new people, and it still felt like there was plenty of room to escalate things.For all the jerkiness I performed, my favorite moment in Untitled Goose Game was the one scene where the game leaned into the goose's charms. I wandered up behind two people having a chat at the pub and hit the button dedicated to honking. The two women turned to look at me, startled, but far less hostile than most of the characters I'd encountered. When I stood in a specific spot they mimed commands for me to perform, fulfilling one of my objectives while absolutely delighting the two women. Untitled Goose Game is a hilariously antagonistic experience most of the time, but I identified strongly with these characters and how lovable they found this horrible goose.The important thing is that Untitled Goose Game is a hoot. It's a comedy game that focuses on making the act of playing it funny, rather than simply being a game that features jokes. Wishing that it was longer speaks to how much fun I had with it. There's nothing else quite like Untitled Goose Game; it's charming and cute despite being mean, and both very silly and very clever. It's also probably the best non-racing game ever to feature a dedicated "honk" button.Info from Gamespot.com

Tonight during the 71st Emmys, Netflix released a brand-new teaser trailer for the Breaking Bad movie. The new El Camino spot shows Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) sitting in his car, an El Camino, as he listens to a news broadcast about the massacre he fled from.This means the movie will pick up immediately after the events of Breaking Bad, which is intriguing to think about. Check out the teaser video below."Investigators are searching for a person of interest who fled the scene. Anyone with information on this massacre is asked to call the police immediately," a broadcaster says on the radio.Very little is known about the plot of El Camino outside of the fact that it will follow Pinkman in the aftermath of the fall of Walter White's drug empire. In his final scene on Breaking Bad, Pinkman was shown racing away from the compound where he was held captive in his El Camino to an uncertain future. The Breaking Bad movie will explain what happens next.El Camino comes to Netflix and some theatres on October 11. It was written and directed by Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad.In addition to Paul, who returns as Pinkman, El Camino will feature familiar characters such as Badger (Matt Jones) and Skinny Pete (Charles Baker). In total, the show will feature more than 10 familiar characters, including one whose involvement is so secret that the producers flew them in to set by private jet to avoid the secret slipping out.Info from Gamespot.com

The 2019 edition of the Emmy Awards have finished up, and Game of Thrones was the event's biggest winner overall. The show and its actors took home two awards during the broadcast this evening, but it tallied 10 earlier this month during the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony for a total of 12 (counting Peter Dinklage's Outstanding Supporting Actor) awards for its final season. The 12 wins ties the show's record-setting 5th season in 2015 which also won 12 awards.Game of Thrones took home the highly coveted Outstanding Drama Series award. The other nominees included Better Call Saul, Bodyguard, Killing Eve, Ozark, Pose, Succession, and This Is Us.When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die...This #GameofThrones selfie just won. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/WJPACPgX53 — E! News (@enews) September 23, 2019Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister on Game of Thrones, won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama series. This is his fourth Outstanding Supporting Actor win for Game of Thrones, and that's a record for most wins in the category. He surpasses Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, who won three times for his performance as Jesse Pinkman on the hit AMC TV show.Game of Thrones Season 8 won 10 Creative Arts Emmy awards earlier this month in categories such as Outstanding Sound Editing, Outstanding Special Visual Effects, Outstanding Fantasy Costumes, and Outstanding Makeup, among others. With the Best Drama win and Peter Dinklage's win, Game of Thrones tallied 12 Emmy award wins for its final season, which ties the show's 2015 record."These last 10 years have been the best years of our lives and for everyone who worked on it, I can't believe we finished it--and I can't believe we did it," showrunner David Benioff said when accepting the award, as reported by Deadline. "We did it all together and it's over and we shall never see your like again."Over its eight seasons, Game of Thrones picked up 161 nominations and 59 wins, which is a record for any show in history. The Outstanding Drama win for Season 8 is the show's fourth win in that category, following wins in 2015, 2016, and 2018.The comedy Fleabag created by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge won Outstanding Comedy Series, while Waller-Bridge herself won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Writing for a Comedy Series for Fleabag.Go to GameSpot sister site TV Guide to find out more about the Emmys. You can see a full list of categories, nominees, and winners below, as compiled by GameSpot sister site CBS News.2019 Emmy Award WinnersOutstanding Drama SeriesBetter Call SaulBodyguardWINNER: Game of ThronesKilling EveOzarkPoseSuccessionThis Is UsOutstanding Comedy SeriesBarryWINNER: FleabagThe Good PlaceThe Marvelous Mrs. MaiselRussian DollSchitt's CreekVeepOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesEmilia Clarke, Game of ThronesWINNER: Jodie Comer, Killing EveViola Davis, How to Get Away With MurderLaura Linney, OzarkMandy Moore, This Is UsSandra Oh, Killing EveRobin Wright, House of CardsDirecting for a Drama SeriesWINNER: Jason Bateman, "Ozark"Lisa Brühlmann, "Killing Eve"David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, "Game of Thrones" ("The Iron Throne")Adam McKay, "Succession"David Nutter, "Game of Thrones"(The Last of the Starks")Daina Reid, "The Handmaid's Tale"Miguel Sapochnik, "Game of Thrones" ("The Long Night")Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama SeriesJason Bateman, OzarkSterling K. Brown, This Is UsKit Harington, Game of ThronesBob Odenkirk, Better Call SaulWINNER: Billy Porter, PoseMilo Ventimiglia, This Is UsOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama SeriesGwendoline Christie, Game of ThronesWINNER: Julia Garner, OzarkLena Headey, Game of ThronesFiona Shaw, Killing EveSophie Turner, Game of ThronesMaisie Williams, Game of ThronesWriting for a Drama SeriesWINNER: Jesse Armstrong, "Succession"David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, "Game of Thrones"Emerald Fennell, "Killing Eve"Peter Gould and Thomas Schnauz, "Better Call Saul"Jed Mercurio, "Bodyguard"Bruce Miller and Kira Snyder, "The Handmaid's Tale"Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama SeriesAlfie Allen, Game of ThronesJonathan Banks, Better Call SaulNikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of ThronesWINNER: Peter Dinklage, Game of ThronesGiancarlo Esposito, Better Call SaulMichael Kelly, House of CardsChris Sullivan, This Is UsVariety Talk SeriesThe Daily Show with Trevor NoahFull Frontal with Samantha BeeJimmy Kimmel LiveWINNER: Last Week Tonight with John OliverThe Late Late Show with James CordenThe Late Show with Stephen ColbertDirector for a Variety SeriesAlex Buono and Rhys Thomas, "Documentary Now!"Derek Waters, "Drunk History"Paul Pennolino, "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver"Jim Hoskinson, "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert"WINNER: Don Roy King, "Saturday Night Live"Sacha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder, Daniel Gray Longino and Dan Mazer, "Who Is America?"Variety Sketch SeriesAt Home with Amy SedarisDocumentary NowDrunk HistoryI Love You, America with Sarah SilvermanWINNER: Saturday Night LiveWho Is AmericaWriting for a Variety SeriesWINNER: Last Week Tonight With John OliverDocumentary Now!Full Frontal With Samantha BeeLate Night With Seth MeyersThe Late Show With Stephen ColbertSaturday Night LiveOutstanding Limited SeriesWINNER: ChernobylEscape at DannemoraFosse/VerdonSharp ObjectsWhen They See UsOutstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or MovieAmy Adams, Sharp ObjectsPatricia Arquette, Escape at DannemoraAunjanue Ellis, When They See UsJoey King, The ActNicey Nash, When They See UsWINNER: Michelle Williams, Fosse/VerdonOutstanding Television MovieWINNER: Black Mirror: BandersnatchBrexitDeadwood: The MovieKing LearMy Dinner with HerveOutstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or MovieMahershala Ali, True DetectiveBenicio Del Toro, Escape at DannemoraHugh Grant, A Very English ScandalJared Harris, ChernobylWINNER: Jharrel Jerome, When They See UsSam Rockwell, Fosse/VerdonWriting for a Limited Series, Movie or DramaRussell T Davies, "A Very English Scandal"Ava DuVernay and Michael Starrbury, "When They See Us"Brett Johnson and Michael Tolkin, "Escape at Dannemora" ("Episode 7")Brett Johnson, Michael Tolkin and Jerry Stahl, "Escape at Dannemora" ("Episode 6")Steven Levenson and Joel Fields, "Fosse/Verdon"WINNER: Craig Mazin, "Chernobyl"Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or MovieAsante Blackk, When They See UsPaul Dano, Escape at DannemoraJohn Leguizamo, When They See UsStellan Skarsgard, ChernobylWINNER: Ben Whishaw, A Very English ScandalMichael K. Williams, When They See UsDirecting for a Limited SeriesAva DuVernay, "When They See Us"Thomas Kail, "Fosse/Verdon" ("Who's Got the Pain")Stephen Frears, "A Very English Scandal"WINNER: Johan Renck, "Chernobyl"Ben Stiller, "Escape at Dannemora"Jessica Yu, "Fosse/Verdon" ("Glory")Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or MovieWINNER: Patricia Arquette, The ActMarsha Stephanie Blake, When They See UsPatricia Clarkson, Sharp ObjectsVera Farmiga, When They See UsMargaret Qualley, Fosse/VerdonEmily Watson, ChernobylCompetition ProgramThe Amazing RaceAmerican Ninja WarriorNailed It!WINNER: RuPaul's Drag RaceTop ChefThe VoiceOutstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy SeriesChristina Applegate, Dead to MeRachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselJulia Louis-Dreyfus, VeepNatasha Lyonne, Russian DollCatherine O'Hara, Schitt's CreekWINNER: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, FleabagOutstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy SeriesAnthony Anderson, Black-ishDon Cheadle, Black MondayTed Danson, The Good PlaceMichael Douglas, The Kominsky MethodWINNER: Bill Hader, BarryEugene Levy, Schitt's CreekDirector for a Comedy SeriesAlec Berg, "Barry" ("The Audition")WINNER: Harry Bradbeer, "Fleabag"Mark Cendrowski, "The Big Bang Theory"Bill Hader, "Barry" ("ronny/lily")Daniel Palladino, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" ("We're Going to the Catskills!")Amy Sherman-Palladino, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" ("All Alone")Writing for a Comedy SeriesAlec Berg and Bill Hader, "Barry"WINNER: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, "Fleabag"Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle and Stacy Osei-Kuffour, "Pen15"Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler, "Russian Doll" ("Nothing in This World Is Easy")David Mandel, "Veep"Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan, "The Good Place"Allison Silverman, "Russian Doll" ("A Warm Body")Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy SeriesWINNER: Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselAnna Chlumsky, VeepSian Clifford, FleabagOlivia Colman, FleabagBetty Gilpin, GLOWSarah Goldberg, BarryMarin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselKate McKinnon, Saturday Night LiveOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy SeriesAlan Arkin, The Kominsky MethodAnthony Carrigan, BarryTony Hale, VeepStephen Root, VeepWINNER: Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselHenry Winkler, Barry Info from Gamespot.com